Ken Borland

T20 cricket is renown for spectacular catches, but our DP World Lions men’s team were nevertheless exceptional in the field, taking some truly hectic grabs, during their 47-run win over the Free State Knights in their CSA T20 Challenge match in Bloemfontein in midweek.

Electing to bat first, our DP World Lions cobbled together 142 for seven, thanks to an all-round batting effort led by Wandile Makwetu (40 off 34 balls) and captain Mitchell van Buuren (32 off 22). It was a decent score in the conditions, but not an unbeatable one.

The Knights had taken some superb catches in the field, but #ThePrideOfJozi raised the bar even higher as the fielders backed up a clinical bowling effort with some magnificent takes.

There were three stunning catches inside the powerplay as our DP World Lions reduced the Knights to 24 for five after six overs.

Dangerman Rilee Rossouw was removed for just 6 as Connor Esterhuizen dived full length at cover to intercept a fierce blow off Tshepo Moreki in spectacular fashion. Delano Potgieter then took a brilliant running catch at third man to dismiss Garnett Tarr for a duck off Evan Jones, who three balls later snaffled an outstanding return catch, lunging forward and to his left, to get rid of Dian Forrester, also for a duck.

Former Protea Gihahn Cloete was digging in for the Knights, but Josh Richards rushed in from point and scored a direct hit from side-on to run him out for 17. Jones also effected an impressive run out with a massive throw from deep cover, athletically taken by wicketkeeper Makwetu, to remove Free State captain Dane Piedt (2).

It was Makwetu who then capped the outstanding fielding display and wrapped up the innings with a marvellous low, one-handed catch diving to his left to dismiss Malusi Siboto (1) off Liutho Sipamla, the home side being bundled out for 95 inside 18 overs, earning the DP World Lions a bonus point win.

“It was really cool to see that standard of fielding,” head coach Russell Domingo said. “Jimmy Kgamadi has worked really hard on the team’s fielding and he deserves a lot of the credit. His coaching is showing rewards because the guys have bought into the intensity. There’s been a big improvement because fielding was not our strength last season.

“The players understand how fortunate they are to have this opportunity to play with our big players away, and it’s a really good environment in the squad at the moment. They’re really embracing our mantra of enthusiasm and intensity,” Domingo said.

While the coaching staff are loving the efforts of the replacement players – they have steered #ThePrideOfJozi to second on the log, just one point behind the Northerns Titans – some of those big names are now returning from Proteas duty and should see action when the DP World Lions take on Boland in Paarl on Saturday.

Given the venue for their fifth match of the campaign, Domingo is particularly pleased that spinners Bjorn Fortuin and Nqaba Peter are making a timely return to the Pride.

“Paarl is generally a low-scoring venue and spin comes into play, there’s never much pace down there. So it will be great to have Nqaba and Bjorn back available.

“But Junaid Dawood has done a fantastic job as our frontline spinner. He was very good last season when he had a couple of opportunities to play and I’m very pleased for him because he has put in a lot of effort and stayed patient for his chance,” Domingo said.

The 28-year-old leg-spinner is the joint-highest wicket-taker in the competition with 10.

The North-West Dragons will ponder how they managed to throw victory away, while Western Province will be proud of a marvellous fightback in the field as well as a couple of magnificent catches as they won their CSA T20 Challenge Eliminator by 41 runs at the Wanderers on Wednesday night.

Western Province were sent in to bat and only made it to a decent total of 166 for five thanks to a mighty finish from George Linde, who smashed 49 off just 23 balls, with five sixes – three of them in the penultimate over off Kerwin Mungroo. Linde then completed a memorable match for himself by taking three for 15 with the ball, as well as hanging on to a spectacular catch.

Kyle Simmonds took a career-best three for 14 in his four overs, as the duo of left-arm spinners sent North-West crashing from 77 for two to 125 all out.

The Dragons had taken the match by the scruff of the neck as Meeka-eel Prince (25 off 11) and captain Wihan Lubbe (46 off 20) put on a rollicking partnership of 70 off just 30 balls for the second wicket. This came after Beuran Hendricks (2-0-9-2) had removed both North-West openers for two apiece.

Taheer Isaacs top-edged a hook to fine leg, but Janneman Malan hit a fine short-arm jab that was somehow caught by Linde, diving full-length at a wide mid-on for a spectacular one-handed grab.

Prince lost control of a pull shot off Wesley Bedja and was caught at fine leg, but the Dragons only needed 90 more runs at a rate of 7.3 to the over to win.

With skipper Lubbe still at the crease and enjoying tremendous momentum, Western Province needed more wickets quickly.

And North-West proceeded to gift them those wickets with mindless cricket. First Lubbe ran himself out going for a second run to long-on, beaten by a superb clean pick-up and bullet throw from Bedja, and then Lesiba Ngoepe (17) pulled a long-hop from Simmonds to cow-corner.

Simmonds took all three of his wickets in the 11^th over as Marco Jansen (9), instead of just trying to push the ball straight down the ground, then tried to drive over midwicket and was bowled, and Bamanya Xenxe (0) was bowled by a peach of an arm-ball.

Linde then took the last three wickets as North-West lost eight wickets for 48 runs in eight overs, Mpongwana taking an incredible one-handed catch, low to his left at slip, to dismiss Kerwin Mungroo for a duck.

The well-balanced Dragons attack had earlier bowled in good areas and justified Lubbe’s decision to bowl first as they restricted Western Province to 101 for five in the first 15 overs. The frustration of the batsmen was most evident in the in-form Eddie Moore’s innings of 15 off 23 balls, which ended in soft fashion when he holed out to long-on against tidy leg-spinner Caleb Seleka (4-0-25-1).

The Western Province top-order is still a little wet behind the ears, and they found themselves bogged down as they could only score 46 for two in the powerplay, compared to the Dragons later on racing to 63 for two.

Mihlali Mpongwana looked good in scoring 24 off 19 deliveries before holing out at deep square-leg off Gideon Peters, who impressed the smattering of spectators at the ground with some genuinely fiery fast bowling which netted him excellent figures of three for 24 in his four overs.

But Linde then hit the ball brilliantly down the ground and over the one short boundary as he blasted a handful of sixes, adding 65 unbeaten runs off just 35 balls with Abdullah Bayoumy (14* off 12).

As good an innings as it was, it did not seem to be enough as North-West were cruising. But then came their spectacular implosion.

Western Province will now take on the Northerns Titans in Qualifier 2 at SuperSport Park on Friday evening, the winners returning to the Wanderers on Sunday afternoon to take on the Central Gauteng Lions in the final.

Like a dieter trying to increase their metabolism, our DP World Lions men’s team have been hunting increased intensity in the field in the CSA T20 Challenge and the Pride certainly reached their goal in the Western Cape over the last week.

An impressive and commanding nine-wicket win over the Boland Rocks last weekend in Paarl was followed on Wednesday night by an even more tremendous, record-breaking triumph over Western Province at Newlands.

On a memorable evening for the #PrideOfJozi, they hammered WP by 132 runs, the biggest ever victory margin in the history of the competition. Having scored 213 for two, their highest ever T20 total against their traditional rivals, the DP World Lions then bundled the home side out for just 81. The record-breaking effort erases the Lions’ own previous mark for the heaviest defeat, having been beaten by 130 runs by the Eagles in Potchefstroom in 2004/5.

Having now secured second place with a five-point lead over Western Province, it all sets the DP World Lions up beautifully for their clash with the HollywoodBets Dolphins in Johannesburg on Friday night.

While there were superb individual performances from Ryan Rickelton (73 off 46), Reeza Hendricks (90 off 49), Lutho Sipamla (3-1-14-3) and Nqaba Peter (2.3-1-7-4 – the third-best figures ever for the Lions) in Cape Town, coach Russell Domingo was delighted by the lift in intensity by the team as a whole.

“We’ve been wanting to play to our standards and intensity. We have a lot of internationals in our team and with small crowds it can be challenging for them because they’re used to thousands of spectators. So we’ve tried to match our intensity to our own standards and we were crazy good with both bat and ball at Newlands and the fielding was really superb,” Domingo said.

“But the Dolphins have a formidable side with in-form batsmen, pace bowlers and spinners. They beat us in Durban and we’re going to have to be on top of our game, focusing on how we control the game.”

Rickelton and Hendricks, who put on an outstanding 151 for the first wicket – a record for Newlands, have now both climbed into the top six of the batting averages with over 250 runs to their names; only Rubin Hermann of the Dragons has scored more.

Rassie van der Dussen (29* off 18) and Delano Potgieter (14* off 7) then provided the finishing touches to the record total.

“It was good to see the batting fire after what has been a strange campaign with us not batting first a lot and having to chase several low scores. Reeza and Ryan batted superbly and they are both quality batsmen. They are finding a way to get substantial scores now that we’re in the crucial stages of the competition,” Domingo said.

Lutho Sipamla and Tshepo Moreki then backed up the batting effort by bowling superbly with the new ball, reducing WP to 38 for four in the powerplay, Sipamla being rewarded with career-best figures.

“Lutho and Tshepo were fantastic and they bowled really good Test lengths, they were aggressive and the pitch did a bit at night. I anticipate the DP World Wanderers wicket also doing a bit against the Dolphins, there’s a bit of rain around, it’s late in the season and there’s a chill in the air. We’ll have to assess and adapt to that as well,” Domingo said.

With the increased pressure, Peter ripped through the remaining batsmen, baffling them with his flat leg-spin and changes of pace. Following on from his three for 14 against the Rocks, the 22-year-old has now taken seven wickets for 38 runs in eight-and-a-half overs and is top of the bowling averages.

“Nqaba bowled brilliantly, his discipline and control was really good,” Domingo said. “He only took up leg-spin a couple of years ago, so it is still a new art for him and he has a long way to go, but he is a really promising talent. He has coaches around him who have learnt from the very best leg-spinners, they give Nqaba feedback in terms of how they were set up as batsmen and he is understanding the nuances of the skill,” Domingo said.

Having kept Western Province in third place on the log, the DP World Lions will now be out to ensure the Dolphins stay fourth, currently 11 points behind them. A third victory in a row for our Pride will also close the gap on the log-leading Warriors to just a handful of points.

While the capricious Cape winds toyed with most of the field, only nine golfers shooting under the par mark of 74, Kylie Henry flourished, posting a five-under-par 69 to lead after the first round of the Standard Bank Ladies Open at Royal Cape Golf Club on Wednesday.

Coming from Scotland, Henry ought to be comfortable in the wind, and it showed in a top-class round that featured an eagle on her second hole, the par-five 11^th, followed by four birdies and just a single bogey.

The winner of the opening event in this year’s Sunshine Ladies Tour, the Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am at Fancourt, also in the Western Cape, went out from the 10^th and reached the clubhouse in four-under, before coming home in one-under as the wind became stronger on her back nine.

“It was pretty windy today, but it does that here and I’ve had quite a lot of experience in the wind, most of the time I manage to judge it well. I do enjoy these good, strong courses. Royal Cape is a great layout and in really good condition, and Fancourt was amazing, a brilliant test.

“Some holes were really quite tough today, with crosswinds or the wind into you, but I played really good golf. I gave myself lots of birdie chances because my iron play was really solid, and then my putting was the best part of my game. It’s quite a tight course, so I drove the ball well too.

“Both nines are similar, but the wind just got stronger when I was on the front nine, so the back nine was slightly easier for me and I hit a lot of good shots,” Henry said.

South Africans Shawnelle de Lange (71) and Lora Assad (72) are Henry’s closest challengers, while compatriot Kiera Floyd is one of the six golfers who posted one-under-par 73.

Like a flower opening up its corolla to show the beauty within, this Sunshine Ladies Tour season has really seen Floyd unveil her huge talent. The 19-year-old finished tied-fourth in last week’s Fidelity ADT Ladies Challenge at Blue Valley, she was in contention after the first round of the SuperSport Ladies Challenge at Sun City, and she was tied-second going into the final round at Fancourt.

De Lange dropped only one shot, on the par-four 10^th, but finished superbly with three birdies in the last four holes.

Assad began her round on the 10^th and immediately dropped a shot, but she fought back brilliantly with birdies on the 13^th, 14^th, 16^th and 18^th holes. The 31-year-old suffered a couple of bogeys on the front nine, but finished well with a birdie to post two-under.

Floyd began a rollercoaster round on the 10^th with a bogey, but reached the turn in two-under, before making one birdies and two bogeys coming home.

Frenchwomen Emie Peronnin and Ariane Klotz, Norway’s Maiken Bing Paulsen, Florentyna Parker of England and India’s Tvesa Malik, winner of the SuperSport Ladies Challenge, are the other golfers on one-under-par.